Akatsuki Blitzkampf
| genre = 2D fighting game | modes = Single-player, multiplayer | platforms = Microsoft Windows }} is a Japanese dōjin 2D fighting game, developed by the dōjin circle SUBTLE STYLE for Microsoft Windows. Released on April 30, 2007, the game is a sequel to '' . The title got a lot of attention in Japan and elsewhere for its high-resolution sprites and older style gameplay. On September 27, 2007, Monthly Arcadia confirmed that the game would be launched as an arcade title, published by SUBTLE STYLE itself. The Arcade game was called Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf Achse and it was released on February 20, 2008 for the Sega NAOMI system. It is soon followed by the sequel known as in 2010. Gameplay Akatsuki Blitzkampf (or Denkō Senki in Japanese) is set in a fictional future involving several characters that roughly resemble the German soldiers of the World War II era, among others. In-game visuals supplement this sort of specific militaristic theme and environment, portrayed by the flat and somewhat cubist character portraits and story sequence images. Blitzkampf is also a follow-up to a previous SUBTLE STYLE release from 2003 called Akatsuki Shisei Ichigō, involving many of the characters from the previous game. In terms of Blitzkampf's play style, it is regarded as relatively "old school" in comparison to many other dōjin fighter releases such as Melty Blood, Eternal Fighter Zero, or Big Bang Beat, as many of the systems and conventions in the game are rather similar to several late 90's fighting games created by Capcom. For example, many players allude to the parry system, which resembles the one from the Street Fighter III installments. The gratuitous number of extra modes the game provides (such as Survival, Time Attack, or SUGOROKU) and the ways that they are unlocked is largely reminiscent of a console release of an arcade fighting game, further reinforcing the semi-retro feel. In other words, the game focus is upon space control and careful footwork instead of flashy combos and intense aerial combat. In Ein-Eins, when activating a burst-like move known as Perfekwelt via A+C+D, will grant the player increased boosts, such as health regeneration, but no longer be able to use EX or regular Super moves when entering this state. Once the gauge limit of Perfekwelt depletes, players cannot use EX or regular Supers, until the regular gauge return usable in the next rounds. While in Perfekwelt state before reaching the gauge limit, players can press A+C+D again to perform a straight through Super attack while in close proximity. Characters Introduced in Akatsuki Shisei Ichigo * Akatsuki: High class technical officer of the Imperial army. Believed to have died in the Arctic oceans at a critical time when the war was coming to its end, during the transportation of a new military unit from an allied country. Fifty years later, he returns alive and unchanged in appearance. Now wielding superhuman abilities, he resumes his mission. He made a guest appearance in French Bread's Under Night In-Birth Exe: Late, and will appear in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle patch 2.0 in November 2019. Voiced in Japanese by Shinobu Matsumoto (credited Souji Hijikata in his home series) and English by Brandon Routh. * Mycale: A witch that belongs to a secret society called "Gesellschaft" (German for "society"); they have been manipulating history from behind the scenes since the Middle Ages. She plans to recover the missing weapon. Later remained as Perfecti as of Ausf. Achse update onwards, as well as being replaced by her spiritual replacement and former host Kati in the sequel game En-Eins Perfektewelt. Voiced in Japanese by Karumagu and in English by Carrie Fisher. * Kanae: An intelligence operative, attached to the second office of the Ground Staff Overseeing Department. With the news of Akatsuki's revival, she is ordered to recover a secret "Blitz Engine", lost at the end of the war. Voiced in Japanese by 754 and in English by Hayden Christensen. * Sai (real name: Colonel Claude D'Aspremont): Agent for the Xinhua computer company. He, through clandestine means, gathers information throughout the world. Rumors say that behind his sunglasses lurks an evil eye that can kill a man instantly. Voiced in Japanese by Hibiki Shine and in English by Hugo Weaving. * Fritz: A military surgeon who practiced in the Imperial army during the war. Albeit becoming unaccounted for afterwards, he sets off on eliminating all those who have appeared concurrently with Akatsuki's revival. Voiced in Japanese by Hibiki Shine and in English by Michael Kenneth Williams. Introduced in Akatsuki Blitzkampf * Marilyn Sue Dae Jie: An assassin for the continent's largest international mafia "Black Hand" and a master of assassination techniques with basis in, presumably, "Breaking Fist". By plundering the Blitz Engine from Akatsuki, she aims to rise in influence and power. Voiced in Japanese by Karumagu in English by Jeff Goldblum. * Da Wei: A master of Xingyiquan, who, as a cold-blooded assassin, rose up to the ranks of Black Hand's leaders. After his patron was assassinated, Wei searches for the criminal. Voiced in Japanese by Shinobu Matsumoto (credited Souji Hijikata in his home series) in English by Ken Watanabe. * Anonym: An Armed Inquisitor of Heresy, within a religious society - The Sacred Club. She is sent to destroy the headquarters of an organization charged with the heresy of aiding Gesellschaft, the Perfecti Kyōdan. Anonym is a master of the Ranbas-style gun technique, a combination of Chinese self-defense and pistols. There are few Anonym Guards as her replacement in the sequel game En-Eins. Voiced in Japanese by Strange E-Ke in English by Ming-Na Wen. * Elektrosoldat: Private army of "Gesellschaft", cloned from Adler. Although equipped with the same Blitz Engine as Akatsuki, the connection between them lies shrouded in mystery. However, one soldier begin to oppose Gesellschaft, while at the same time of ended up dying by an unknown disease. Voiced in Japanese by Yohei Takino in English by Kevin Michael Richardson. * Blitztank (Denkosensha in Japan): An electrical tank, assumed to have a Blitz Engine as its source of power. According to a copy of the document on new engine research labeled "Gesellschaft", a test piece was developed. However, it was revoked along with the plan itself before the full-scale production could take place. Based on its ending, there are rumors behind the creation of Blitztanks that the tanks were once humans before being cyberized into living tanks as there are now. It appears alongside Akatsuki in BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. * Adler: Formerly, as an officer within the organization "Ahnenerbe", he did research on German ancestry, organization. He participated in excavation of Tibet's ancient heritage, but upon the discovery of the ancient city of Agartha, he uses the science for his own ambitions. He is the originator of Elektrosoldat clone army. Voiced in Japanese by Nagase Reiji in English by Gregg Berger. * Murakumo (real name: Akatsuki Zero): The final boss of the first game. At the time of the previous war, he was a military officer stationed in Germany who planned actions for an inspection group on military affairs. In this position, he got in touch with a religious society called Perfecti Kyōdan, and established the Military Technique Research facility, nicknamed "Gesellschaft". Towards the end of the war news from Berlin is interrupted. He was the original Akatsuki before the main protagonist himself. Voiced in Japanese by Shinobu Matsumoto (credited Souji Hijikata in his home series) in English by Christoph Waltz. Introduced in Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse * Perfecti (Kanzensha in Japan): The current sub boss of the series. The current form of the witch Mycale after leaving Kati's body, and presumably possessing one of the original Anonym as her presumable current host. Voiced iin Japanese by Keiko Utsumi in English by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in En Eins Perfektewelt * En-Eins: The sole survivor of Gesellschaft's cloning batch, En-Eins aims to stop the evil military organization to avenge his clone "siblings". Voiced in Japanese by Ai Nishimura in English by Troy Baker. * Kati: Former host of Mycale after the latter becoming a separate entity known as Perfecti. As Kati now freed from Mycale, she replaces Mycale’s spot as a playable character. Voiced in Japanese by Kaori Ota in English by Catherine Cavadini. * Anonym Guard: The original Anonym's replacement, after the original's disappearance, and presumably possessed by Mycale and becoming Perfecti. One of the guards begin to search for her whereabout. Voiced in Japanese by Strange E-Ke in English by Fred Tatasciore. * Tempelritter: Are the female clones of Valkyria, serving as "Gesellschaft"'s foot soldiers like Elektrosoldat. * Valkyria: The non-playable final boss of the second game. She, like Adler, also have let themselves being cloned to mass produce Tempelritter and Elektrosoldat army. Release ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse'' | genre = 2D fighting game | modes = Single-player, multiplayer | platforms = Arcade (Sega NAOMI) }} After finding success on the Dōjin soft scene, on September 27, 2007, Arcadia Magazine confirmed that the game would be launched as an Arcade title, with the provisional name "Akatsuki Blitzkampf AC", published by SUBTLE STYLE itself. The first location test was held on November 23, 2007 at High Tech Land Sega AViON in Japan. The game was renamed as Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse and was improved with graphical enhancements and a new character named Perfecti. Akatsuki Blitzkampf Ausf. Achse was released in Japanese arcades on February 20, 2008 for the Sega NAOMI system and published with the help of PIC company. It re-introduces a new character known as Perfecti (Kanzensha in Japan), who was originally a mere alternate version/palette swap of Mycale. It is a common misconception that the subtitle is a misspelling of the German phrase "Auf Achse," meaning "on tour/on the road/on the move". In fact, the term "Ausf." is short for "Ausführung" and has been very common in historic German military nomenclature, meaning "option model" or "version". Therefore, "Ausf. Achse" literally means "option model with axle(s)" or "moveable/mobile/non-stationary version". It should be noted that "Achse" also translates to "axis", and given the game's militaristic style, a very probable translation is "Akatsuki Flash Fight Axis Edition". ''En-Eins Perfektewelt'' }} }}(NESiCAxLive) | genre = 2D fighting game | modes = Single-player, multiplayer | platforms = Arcade }} Subtle Style developed a sequel to the original game called in conjunction with Rutubo Game Works. It was released on the System Board Y2 arcade system on June 25, 2010. The game was later ported to the Taito Type X² arcade board and released digitally via NESiCAxLive on February 22, 2012. It is a common misconception that the subtitle is a misspelling of the German phrase "Perfektwelt," meaning "perfect world", referring to the new titular protagonist En-Eins, the last surviving clone of his cloning batch who aims to defeat the game’s main antagonist, Vakyria (a boss version of her playable clone, Tempelritter) for the sake of creating a perfect world. It also introduces Mycale’s replacement and former host, Kati, as well Anonym Guard as a replacement to the original Anonym. Reception The original Akatsuki game, Akatsuki Shisei Ichigo, was released in 2003 with mixed reviews because of its lack of characters (only three in the first edition, and five with a patch) and gameplay problems, but the second game was released with new characters, backgrounds and a deeper system that includes new modes and online play. Akatsuki Blitzkampf has a strong community in Japan with tournaments and ranking battles in famous Japanese arcade centers like Ko-Hatsu and some non-Japanese enthusiasts have gathered in communities like Shoryuken.com (the official host of the Evolution Championship Series fighting game tournaments in the US). See also * List of fighting games References External links * * [http://subtlestyle.net/akatsukiaa/ Official Ausf. Achse website] * [http://subtlestyle.net/en-1/index.html Official En-Eins Perfektewelt website] Category:2007 video games Category:Alternate history video games Category:Arcade games Category:Dōjin soft Category:Japan-exclusive video games Category:Versus fighting games Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Video games featuring female protagonists Category:Windows games Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games Category:Video games scored by Stephen Barton Category:Video games scored by Hildur Guðnadóttir Category:Video games scored by Junkie XL Category:Video games scored by Deborah Lurie Category:Video games scored by John Van Tongeren Category:Video games scored by Christian Vorländer Category:Video games scored by Stephen Perone